JOINT RELEASE BETWEEN NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT AGENCY AND NORTHWEST COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL

Singapore, 13 September 2009 – As part of the Energy Challenge Week, the National Environment Agency (NEA), the North West Community Development Council (North West CDC) and the Nee Soon East Constituency have jointly launched a programme entitled ‘PC Goes Green @ North West – Click & Save’. The event was graced by Guest-of-Honour, Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee, Senior Minister of State, Minister of Law and Minister of Home Affairs, MP for Nee Soon East Constituency, at Nee Soon East Community Centre.

Cultivating a green lifestyle by cutting energy usage on computers

The ‘PC Goes Green @ North West – Click & Save’ programme, a first-of-its kind in the North West District, aimed to educate the public on energy-saving habits related to computer usage. It is designed to address a problem that people are not aware of - that standby power takes up about 10% of the total household electricity bill.

A poll conducted in August 2009 showed that 94% of the respondents were aware that they should turn off the hard disk when the computer was idle to save energy. However, 58% did not know how to adjust the settings to turn off the hard disk of the computer. In addition, the majority of the respondents (65%) were not aware that a computer on ‘Stand By’ mode did not save more energy compared to one put on ‘Hibernate’ mode. Furthermore, less than half of the respondents (44%) knew that setting a screensaver after the computer had idled for ten minutes did not help to save energy. A vast majority (95%) also responded that they would like to learn more energy efficient tips.

Commenting on the initiative, Mr. Andrew Tan, CEO of NEA said, “Simple energy-saving practices such as reducing the brightness on the computer display, putting devices on energy saving features and switching off the mains when not in use will help Singaporeans be more energy-efficient with their computer usage.”

It is hoped that the campaign will support the national 10% Energy Challenge campaign, which aims to reduce household energy consumption by 10% over the period from 2008 to 2012 and contribute towards the larger objective of an environmentally sustainable Singapore. Under the Sustainable Development Blueprint announced by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Sustainable Development (IMCSD) in April 2009, Singapore has targeted to achieve a 35% reduction in energy intensity (consumption per dollar GDP) from 2005 levels.

In an effort to generate continuous awareness on energy efficiency, the programme will also be rolled out to 13 other constituencies within North West district. By June 2010, the organisers estimate that a total of 196,000 households and 70 schools within the district would have benefited from the outreach.

Twenty-six winners to be awarded for the North West Home Energy Audit programme

In addition to programmes like ‘PC Goes Green @ North West – Click & Save’, NEA, North West CDC and North West Grassroots organizations have actively been reaching out to the public to raise awareness of energy-saving habits.

In April this year, 70 volunteers from Maybank were recruited and trained to conduct home-energy audits at households in Yishun during the Phase 1 launch of Energy Audit Programme organized by North West CDC. From April to August 2009, a total of 2,424kWh energy savings and $461.28 cost savings were achieved after the first phase of the home-energy audits. Twenty-six households with the highest savings in energy consumption will be awarded with up to $1000 worth of shopping vouchers sponsored by Maybank.

Volunteers would return to the same households from October to December 2009 to reiterate the energy saving tips and also conduct a short survey to find out if households are still practising any of the energy saving tips picked up from the first visit.

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